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2019-04-16

max answer › question first answered

2019-05-20T16:45:11.767Z

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To ask the Attorney General, whether he has provided advice to the Prime Minister
on whether the Government is able to trigger article 24 of the WTO General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade; and if he will make a statement.

<p>I regularly meet ministerial colleagues to discuss important issues of common interest,
including on matters relating to the UK’s exit from the EU. I am unable to disclose
the legal content of those discussions because whether or not the Law Officers have
given advice and the content of any such advice is, by convention, not disclosed outside
Government. The Convention protects my ability as chief legal adviser to the Government
to give full and frank legal advice about some of the most contentious and difficult
issues the Government will be considering.</p>

To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the recent alleged disclosure of information
from the National Security Council, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness
of the Official Secrets Act.

<p>The policy responsibility for the operation of the Official Secrets Acts is a matter
for the Cabinet Office.</p><p> </p><p>The Attorney General’s role in respect of the
Official Secrets Act is confined to granting consent to prosecute as defined in that
Act.</p>

To ask the Attorney General, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary
of State for the Home Department on failures relating to the disclosure of evidence
in criminal cases and police culture.

<p>The Attorney General and I engage frequently with the Home Office, and issues relating
to disclosure remain of paramount importance to us. Extensive action is underway to
bring about the necessary cultural change within the CPS and policing, and we are
clear that this is a collaborative effort. In June the Minister for Policing and I
will be co-chairing a Tech Summit, in order to address the increasing amount of digital
material involved in the disclosure process.</p><p /><p />

<p>The CPS, as with all government departments, has seen a reduction in funding since
2010. Whilst it has been a challenge, it is very important to recognise that the CPS
has managed to maintain its performance. It is testament to the professionalism and
commitment of the staff that has enabled this, reforming all aspects of how the organisation
is managed to find efficiencies wherever possible. The CPS is now amongst the most
digital prosecution services in the world.</p><p> </p><p>The CPS has a budget to enable
its resourcing; the Law Officers will continue to work with them and HMT to ensure
that this is the case and that their needs are reflected in any future Spending Review.</p>

<p>Government Departments are working quickly to tackle knife crime and the CPS continues
to prosecute knife crime robustly. Charges for offensive weapons and possession of
a bladed article increased to 27,525 in 2017/18, compared with 25,993 in 2016/17.</p><p>
</p><p>I attended the Serious Youth Violence Summit hosted by the Prime Minister in
April to discuss this serious issue. Following the Summit, cross-government work will
now be overseen and driven forward by the new Serious Violence Strategy Implementation
Taskforce chaired by the Prime Minister. The Attorney General will be a member of
this Taskforce, and both he and I regularly engage with discussions about effectively
tackling knife crime.</p>

<p>The Government is committed to tackling economic crime. We know this requires a
multi-agency response and that is why both the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Crown
Prosecution Service (CPS) play their part, alongside others, including through their
support of the new multi-agency National Economic Crime Centre (NECC).</p><p>The NECC,
which has been operational since October 2018, will drive the tasking and coordination
of the UK's response to economic crime. It will access the full range of capabilities
available to ensure the right tools are used by the right agencies at the right time
- ensuring that economic crime is tackled in the most effective and impactful way.</p>

<p>HM Treasury has allocated over £4.2 billion of additional funding to departments
and the Devolved Administrations for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU_exit"
target="_blank">EU exit</a> preparations so far. This breaks down as:</p><p> </p><p>£412m
of additional funding over the spending review period for the Department for Exiting
the European Union, Department for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Trade"
target="_blank">International Trade</a> and the Foreign &amp; <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Office"
target="_blank">Commonwealth Office</a> at Autumn Statement 2016.</p><p> </p><p>£286m
of additional funding for 17/18 (a full breakdown of which can be found in Supplementary
Estimates 17/18:</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679738/PU2137_Supplementary_estimates_web.pdf"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/679738/PU2137_Supplementary_estimates_web.pdf</a>.)</p><p>
</p><p>Over £1.5bn of additional funding for 18/19. A full breakdown of the allocations
can be found in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Secretary" target="_blank">Chief
Secretary</a>’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS540, laid on the 13th March (<a
href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/"
target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-03-13/HCWS540/</a>)</p><p>
</p><p>Over £2bn of additional funding for 19/20. A full breakdown of the allocations
can be found in the Chief Secretary’s Written Ministerial Statement, HCWS1205, laid
on the 18th December (<a href="https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-18/HCWS1205/"
target="_blank">https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-statement/Commons/2018-12-18/HCWS1205/</a>)</p><p>
</p><p>The funding provided is in addition to the Attorney General’s Office’s efforts
to reprioritise from business as usual toward preparations for the UK’s departure
from the EU. This funding is to support preparation for all scenarios.</p><p> </p>

To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 11 April 2019 to Question 910352
on Terrorism: Prosecutions, if he will (a) review the type of data that the CPS collates
and (b) introduce a new category under terrorism-related offences for returning terrorist
fighters.

<p>The CPS has considered the types of data it collates and has determined that it
would not be appropriate to create a new dataset which overlaps with the information
already collected and published by the Home Office. CPS collects data for operational
purposes; the Home Office however report the National Statistics which are the official
figures reported to Parliament.</p><p>Recent figures published by the Home Office
report that last year, 84 people were tried following charges brought by the CPS for
terrorism-related offences, resulting in 76 convictions. The remaining 8 were found
not guilty.</p>